20 years on from when its authentic run ended, Friends remains to be ubiquitous because the archetypal sitcom about grownup friendship within the fashionable world. The present has skilled a revival previously decade about nostalgic millennials, and remains to be a touchstone for comedy collection about platonic relationships. But, it’s far the one sitcom to have broached this topic.
The truth is, there are numerous TV shows a lot like Friends, which arguably do an excellent higher job of portraying friendship teams we are able to each snicker at and establish with. A few of these exhibits are literally funnier than David Crane and Marcia Kauffman’s seminal ‘90s sitcom, whereas others higher replicate the friendship dynamics we acknowledge or aspire to in actual life.
There are, after all, a number of sitcoms that consciously tried to be the new Friends after they first aired, however none of those collection make this record. Which means there’s no place for How I Met Your Mom, which notoriously enraged followers with its ending after two convoluted last seasons, or for New Lady, which doesn’t fairly surpass Buddies at its greatest.
As a substitute, the ten sitcoms listed right here every do one thing wholly authentic with friendship, comedy, or each. It takes an extra-special work of tv to outdo an all-time nice like Buddies, however these collection handle this feat completely on their very own phrases.
Ladies
2012–2017
A singularly sensible comedy-drama concerning the brutal transition from school to grownup life, HBO’s Girls is finally getting its flowers from Gen Z, to whom its astutely delicate model of comedy is especially interesting. Lena Dunham shines as central hero Hannah Horvath, who suspects she is perhaps the voice of her era, or at the very least a voice of a era.
Her suspicion has turned out to be unusually prescient, even when her personal era was too distracted with Buddies to note when she first introduced it. Smarter and sassier than its fellow New York-based sitcom, Ladies can also be extra grounded, regardless of Hannah’s lofty aspirations, because of chaotically actual friendships based on a mutual battle for a spot on this planet.
Spaced
1999–2001
This turn-of-the-millennium collection starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is an especially underrated sitcom, given its affect on the last decade of British comedy that adopted it. A much more sensible depiction of life as a bunch of directionless twenty-somethings in a serious metropolis than Buddies may ever hope to be, Spaced is as charming as it’s goofy.
The present even has its personal extra understated model of Ross and Rachel’s will-they-won’t-they story arc, with a sublimely crafted finale. Followers of Edgar Wright’s Three-Flavors Cornetto trilogy of traditional style comedy films merely have to observe Spaced at the very least as soon as.
Grace And Frankie
2015–2022
A totally fashionable story of friendship with an ingenious premise, Grace and Frankie approaches feminine solidarity and companionship from a splendidly authentic angle. With powerhouse performances from Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as its two titular leads, the present is likely one of the standout sitcoms of the final decade.
Grace and Frankie’s perfect ending after seven seasons is the cherry on high of an immensely satisfying story of two reluctant buddies thrown collectively in essentially the most unlikely of circumstances. It makes The Odd Couple look totally typical by comparability, and places Buddies’ Ross and Carol arc within the shade.
2005–2007
Ostensibly a office sitcom about jobbing display extras making an attempt to make it as actors, Extras proves again and again that it’s finally concerning the bond cast between these sharing on this expertise collectively. Ashley Jenson has starred in multiple Ricky Gervais projects, nevertheless it’s her position as Maggie Jacobs on this collection that defines their collaboration.
Maggie’s enduring friendship with Gervais’ Andy Millman is one of the best factor about Extras. The connection serves because the present’s emotional core, demonstrating higher than just about the rest of its day that female and male characters don’t want romantic or sexual rigidity between them to work as an onscreen pairing. If solely Buddies had carried out the identical all through its run.
Completely Fabulous
1992–2012
Starring Too Much cast member and celebrated comic Jennifer Saunders alongside British TV veteran Joanne Lumley, this unhinged sitcom about two middle-aged buddies working within the style business is rollicking enjoyable. Patsy Stone and Eddie Monsoon publicly embarrass themselves every day, however have the resolve to maintain doing it once more.
No matter she does, Eddie’s long-suffering daughter, Saffy, can’t appear to dissuade them from their incessant dangerous habits. Completely Fabulous is an ode to the fun of unfettered irresponsibility and blissful ignorance that friendships on a really specific wavelength can convey. Nothing Rachel Inexperienced does at Ralph Lauren can evaluate.
It’s At all times Sunny In Philadelphia
2005–Current
That includes the longest-running gang of ingesting buddies in sitcom historical past, It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia is sharper, zanier, and edgier than Buddies in virtually each sense. The arrival of Danny DeVito in its second season might need altered the dynamic of its friendship group considerably, nevertheless it principally simply made their excessive jinks even funnier.
If Sunny is adding a new member to the gang for season 18, it stays to be seen how this contemporary addition will play out. The present remains to be going sturdy in any case, proving that there’s much more mileage in Paddy’s Pub than there was in Central Perk 20 years in the past.
Peep Present
2003–2015
Peep Show is something of an anti-sitcom for audiences who’re bored with exhibits about easy friendships constructed on love and help. On this sense, it’s a profoundly insightful window into a distinct sort of friendship, which in some way survives by way of years of mutual resentment and conflicting pursuits.
Its two protagonists, Mark and Jez, are set on a path in the direction of mutually assured destruction ever since shifting in collectively, and the truth that we get entry to their most personal ideas about it makes the entire state of affairs much more hilarious. It’s no shock that the co-creator of this darkish sitcom would go on to make Succession.
The Golden Ladies
1985–1992
Virtually a decade earlier than Buddies debuted on NBC, the identical community performed host to a different sitcom a few very totally different era of tight-knit companions. The Golden Girls was a show far ahead of its time within the Nineteen Eighties, tackling topics resembling ageing, mortality, race, and sexuality with shrewd humor and heartfelt concern.
Its depraved wit and deft but considerate dealing with of weighty points makes Buddies appear light-weight by comparability. Nonetheless, the title characters in The Golden Ladies nonetheless knew have enjoyable, and – extra importantly – make enjoyable of themselves and both different whereas they had been having it.
Cheers
1982–1993
If Buddies having six predominant characters appeared bold for a sitcom within the Nineteen Nineties, it was standing on the shoulders of giants that had already gone additional. Foremost amongst them is a present concerning the camaraderie between the bartenders and common patrons of a Boston pub. Cheers manages to showcase each of its eight main characters in flip all through its run.
Maybe solely M*A*S*H can evaluate, as a live-action sitcom of such stature, with so many key members of an ensemble forged. Nonetheless, the forged of Cheers, which options Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammar, Woody Harrelson, Shelley Lengthy, and Kirstie Alley, amongst others, is probably the best sitcom ensemble of all time.
Seinfeld
1989–1998
The present which served because the blueprint for Buddies and so a lot of its contemporaries, Seinfeld could not at all times be about one of the best of individuals, however we’ve to confess that Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are a lovable group of buddies in their very own flawed methods. They invariably hearken to and look out for each other, typically to a fault.
Consequently, every of the 4 inevitably will get roped into the hairbrained schemes of the remaining. There are scenes in Seinfeld that make us glad George isn’t our friend, or that we don’t should depend on Jerry or Elaine. However there isn’t a sitcom friendship group within the historical past of tv that’s extra entertaining to observe general.
- Launch Date
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1994 – 2004
- Showrunner
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Marta Kauffman
